‘You all right if I shoot up the road and get supplies now?’
I nodded.
He stood, then bent and squidged the duvet back in place around me.
‘Comfy?’
I nodded again. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’ He smiled down at me. ‘Text me if you think of anything else you need.’ Charlie moved my phone closer to the edge of the table so that I could reach it. ‘I won’t be long.’
I heard the door click behind him. After another humongous nose-blowing session, I snuggled down in the duvet and decided to close my eyes for a little while, just until Charlie got back.
30
When I woke up, the sky was streaked with red and gold, the TV was on low and Charlie was sitting at the end of the sofa, my feet – somewhere in the folds of the duvet – resting on his lap. He was chomping down cashew nuts and a glass of what looked to be beer rested on the coffee table in front of him. Sensing movement, he turned and noticed me awake.
‘Evening.’
When all that came out was a croak, I waved instead.
‘You were out cold when I got back. It’s probably the best thing for you, so I let you sleep. I got some medicine. You should take some now you’re awake. Do you want me to get it for you?’
I shook my head. My bladder had followed the rest of my body in waking and was now demanding attention. My feet wriggled and kicked at the duvet until I escaped, ostensibly by being deposited on the floor. I felt Charlie lean forward from the sofa, so I stuck a hand out behind me and waved him off, signalling that I was OK. Between the coffee table and the sofa, I managed to haul myself up into a mostly upright position and blew my fringe up with a quick puff of breath. Standing was apparently on the list of Exhausting Things To Do right now too. My glance slid to where Charlie was watching me.
‘You all right? You’re swaying like a tall building in a high wind.’
OK. I’d thought that feeling was in my head. Apparently not. I reached out for the end of the sofa. Carefully I made my way across the room and towards the bathroom, using various pieces of furniture as impromptu crutches. I grabbed at the door handle, pulled myself in and sat down heavily on the closed loo seat to catch my breath, sounding more like Darth Vader on forty a day than a thirty-something, mostly clean-living woman. A few minutes later and I scraped together enough energy to do the necessary ablutions and clean my teeth. It made me feel mildly more human but my jammies were still sticking to me and I was pretty sure I probably didn’t smell all that great either. I risked a quick sniff. Oh, wow. I leaned over and started the water flowing to get it to the right temperature while I stripped off.
Charlie knocked on the door. ‘Are you having a shower?’
I said yes, but not a lot came out volume wise.
‘Knock once for yes, and twice for no.’
I knocked once.
‘For goodness’ sake, don’t slip over. Leave the door unlocked.’
I rolled my eyes and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a bath towel and wrapping it around me before yanking open the door.
‘I am capable of taking a shower, you know.’ My voice was mostly a series of croaks intermingled with the odd squeak, but it got the message across for the most part.
Charlie turned from where he’d begun walking back to the living room.
‘I realise that,’ he said, his sensible, even tone neutralising my grumpy sarcasm, ‘but you’re unwell and couldn’t stand up straight for ten minutes if I paid you, so just be careful.’
I let out a sigh and gave a palms-up gesture that said, ‘Fine, whatever’. Unfortunately, I hadn’t taken into account the fact that I’d not secured my towel for self-support and the whole thing began unwrapping itself. It wasn’t an elegant save, but it was a save. Just about. I hardly dared look at Charlie, who hadn’t moved from his position. When I eventually raised my eyes, he gave a little shrug.
‘Can’t be that ill,’ he said. ‘Your reflexes are still pretty sharp.’ His mouth was non-committal, but his eyes were laughing.
‘If you were a gentleman, you would have brushed past that moment without mentioning it,’ I forced out.
‘On the contrary. If I weren’t a gentleman, I would have added the word “unfortunately” to the end of my sentence. Which I didn’t. Ergo, I’m a gentleman. Now stop straining your voice arguing and go do whatever you’re going to do. Carefully!’
I obeyed his instruction to rest my voice and replied instead by rolling my eyes.
‘Very mature.’
